Confusion continues to reign surrounding the selection of the Indian men’s football team at the Asian Games, five days before its first match.
The Sports Ministry’s squad, part of the final list of 655 participants, released late on Thursday, is very different from the one released by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), a day earlier, on Wednesday.
The Ministry has retained the core of the squad, announced first by the AIFF on August , making six changes to it. Players such as Sandesh Jhingan and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu – who were cut from AIFF’s revised list– are included in it.
After the India Super League clubs refused to release some of its players, the AIFF announced a revised list for the Asiad on Wednesday, making 13 changes to its original squad (August 1).
But the list from the Centre was very different.
Vishal Yadav (Jamshedpur FC), Ayush Dev Chhetri (FC Goa), Liston Colaco (Mohun Bagan Super Giant), Abdul Rabeeh (Hyderabad FC), Samuel James (Punjab FC) and Vincy Barretto (Chennaiyin FC) replaced Lalengmawia (Mumbai City FC), Rohit Danu (Bengaluru FC), Dheeraj Singh Moiranghthem (FC Goa), Roshan Singh Naorem (Bengaluru FC), Siva Saksthi Narayanan (Bengaluru FC) and Asish Rai (Mohun Bagan), respectively.
The list also mentions Igor Stimac as the men’s team head coach.
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Indian Super League club FC Goa said that the club was not made aware of the latest development.
“This is definitely something that comes as news to us, if this is indeed the case, as Dheeraj’s name was included in the squad announced yesterday and we have received no official communication to inform us otherwise,” FC Goa responded to a query from Sportstar.
Sportstar reached out to AIFF but it was not available for comment.
India plays host China in its opening game on September 19, and Bangladesh and Myanmar on September 21 and 24, respectively.
August 1 Squad: (released by AIFF)
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Gurmeet Singh, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem.
Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Narender Gahlot, Lalchungnunga, Akash Mishra, Roshan Singh, Ashish Rai.
Midfielders: Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Apuia Ralte, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Rahul KP, Naorem Mahesh Singh.
Forwards: Siva Sakthi Narayanan, Rahim Ali, Aniket Jadhav, Vikram Partap Singh, Rohit Danu, Sunil Chhetri.
September 14 squad: (revised list by AIFF)
Goalkeepers: Gurmeet Singh, Vishal Yadav
Defenders: Sumit Rathi, Narender Gahlot, Deepak Tangri
Midfielders: Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Samuel James, Rahul KP, Ayush Dev Chhetri
Forwards: Rahim Ali, Vincy Barretto, Sunil Chhetri, Liston Colaco, Gurkirat Singh, Aniket Jadhav, Bryce Miranda, Abdul Rabeeh Anjukandan, Azfar Noorani
September 15 squad: (released by Sports Ministry)
Goalkeeper: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Gurmeet Singh, Vishal Yadav
Defenders: Anwar Ali, Narender Gahlot, Sandesh Jhingan, Akash Mishra, Lalchungnunga
Midfielders: Ayush Dev Chhetri, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Mahesh Singh Naorem, Abdul Rabeeh, Samuel James, Jeakson Singh, Suresh Singh
Forwards: Rahim Ali, Aniket Jadhav, Rahul KP, Liston Colaco, Sunil Chhetri, Vincy Barretto, Vikram Pratap Singh
